


Edderstanding

by orphan_account



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Cute, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-24
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-21 05:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/896384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Got this prompt from my best friend: Edd’s having a hard time - probably stressed out about school and his crush on Kevin and his parents being gone all the time - and Kevin, as usual, calls him names and picks on him, but it was one time too many and Edd breaks down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Edderstanding

Kevin was tough. He’d crafted a persona for himself so airtight, so bulletproof, that kids from blocks away recognized his name. He roamed the cul-de-sac freely, safe in the knowledge that nobody had the nuts to face him. He’d beaten his authority into those who dared to push him past taunts and snide jabs. What’s more, he did all of this without a smidge of guilt; his parents could ground him, but what did they know? As soon as he was back on the street, he’d be top dog again, and nothing could change that. Kevin wasn’t just tough. He was unshakeable.

But never before had he made someone cry. Not before today.

Sure, it made him feel terrible—he was still trying to figure that part out—but what had made it all the more bizarre was that the situation was totally unremarkable: as usual, he spotted Edd slinking back to his house after his lame-ass adventures with his dweeb friends, shoulders hunched and arms hugging his sides. Kevin made a habit of hitting him up for a few laughs before dinner—it was like a tradition, you know, and it ruined his appetite if he broke it. Wheeling himself over on his bike, he had thrown out his insult just as he hit the kickstand, parking it at the curb.

"What’s the matter, Double Dork? Nobody around to hug you, so you gotta do it yourself?" Rather than move on with a nervous laugh, as was Edd’s typical response, he stopped dead in his tracks, feet planted on the cracked sidewalk. For some reason, he’d remember later that a dandelion had peeked out from beneath his sneaker. Kevin waited impatiently for his response, arms crossed and teeth clenched. “Well, dorkface?" Edd’s shoulders shook violently, and his hands gripped the fabric of his shirt so tightly, Kevin wondered if it would rip. Before he could make his way back to his bike, Edd whipped around on his heel, eyes wide and manic, brimming with tears. 

"W-why can’t you just leave me in peace, Kevin?! What have I ever done to you to deserve this constant torment? Do you not have anything better to do than—than—make me your proverbial punching bag? Perhaps it would be better if you just went ahead and struck me!" Edd moved closer, tears flowing freely down his face. “Go on, Kevin! Punch me!" Kevin took a step back, as if the wind had been knocked from him. He just couldn’t understand it: Edd was the normal one—well, as normal as an Edd could be. Sure, he labelled everything and used big words and stayed way too clean, but he wasn’t a nutjob like half the kids in this neighborhood. Yet here he was, begging Kevin to beat the crap out of him like it was the only thing that would keep him alive. For a wild moment Kevin had wondered if maybe it was. 

"Edd, look, I’m sorry, just—" Kevin stuttered, completely blown away, but Edd cut him off sharply with a wave of his hand.

"NO! I have endured this long enough! Everything is so wrong, Kevin! And you—you are just the icing on the cake! I—" Edd suddenly stopped, as if a fire beneath him had been put out. His bottom lip still quivered, and his cheeks shone in the light from the street lamps, just now flickering awake. “I-I must be getting home, Kevin. Forgive me for that…that ridiculous…" Edd’s face screwed up tight, and he fled back to his house, leaving Kevin utterly dumbstruck.

Hours later, that feeling had not left him. He had pedaled home and fell back onto his bed, not even bothering to remove his hat and shoes. Kevin usually cared less about people’s feelings—wasn’t his job, after all—but the way Edd had looked at him, the raw emotion in his voice…had scared him. What could have possibly happened to him to upset him that much? Thought it went against his better judgement, he resolved himself to find out. 

The next day, he found Eddy in his front yard, lying out and staring at the sky, a skeevy grin on his face as per usual. ‘No doubt planning another doofus scam.’ Kevin thought to himself, inordinately angered that he wasn’t off comforting Double Dweeb instead. Shaking it off, he planted his foot into Eddy’s chest.

"Hey, Ed-head! Get up, we need to talk!" Eddy scrambled upright, rubbing the spot where Kevin’s foot had been.

"What’s the deal, Kev? I haven’t even sniffed in the direction of you stupid jawbreakers!" Kevin grabbed Eddy by the collar of his polo and sneered.

"This ain’t about jawbreakers, you idiot. It’s about Double D." The name sounded strange on his tongue without ‘dork’ behind it. 

"D-double D? What’d he do to you?" Any other time, that would have been a stupid question, but Kevin let it slide, since he was still trying to find the answer.

"Last night he freaked out all over me when I called him out. I wanna know why." Eddy struggled to get free from his grasp, brows furrowed and palms suddenly sweaty.

"Get your hands off me, Kev, and we might be able to talk." Kevin sat him down on his feet again, and Eddy brushed himself off, as if he had been in a serious scuffle. What a loser.

"Alright, get talkin’. What’s his deal?" Eddy grimaced and slicked his hair back against his head.

"Better question is, what ISN’T his deal?" Kevin raised his fist.

“ _Better_  question is, why aren’t you talkin’ straight?" Eddy held up his hands in surrender.

"It’s his parents, okay?! It’s his parents and his grades and all that other crap he cares about! He’s a nervous wreck all the time!" Kevin lowered his clenched fist and squinted his eyes.

"Keep it up and I might spare you a beating." Eddy kept talking, and Kevin, much to both of their surprises, kept listening. It was clear that Eddy didn’t know everything, but what little he told Kevin was enough to make him understand one thing: Edd was way more complicated than he could have ever imagined. When Eddy had finished telling him everything he knew, Kevin shoved him out of the way and headed back to his bike. He had more digging to do, but now he had a lead: his parents. He understood what bad parents were capable of; his own dad had been a real monster, but he grew hard. Edd, on the other hand, was cracking on the edges, and somehow Kevin didn’t want to see him splinter any further.

His next stop was to Ed’s place. Sarah would let him in easily enough, and Ed, stupid as he was, had his moments of weird lucidity, and besides Eddy was the closest person to Double D. He’d know something, even if it was totally incomprehensible. He beat his fist on the door, and Sarah answered. Behind her, Jimmy sat pouring tea for a yellow elephant. 

"Kevin!? What do you want?" She screeched, hands on her hips. Kevin scratched his neck nervously.

"Uh…I need to talk to Ed." Sarah laughed out loud, startling Jimmy and making him drop his cookie on the floor. 

"YOU want to talk to ED?" Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Why?" Kevin threw his hands up into the air.

"Look, Sarah, it’s none of your business, okay? I just need to talk to your dumb brother." Sighing heavily, she moved out of the way.

"Fine. But I’m watching you…" She glowered before returning to Jimmy’s side, patting him tenderly and serving him another cookie. Kevin made his way up to Ed’s room, knocking on the door with the slightest trepidation. Nobody really knew what might jump out at them.

"Enter, humaaaaaaaaan!" Ed called from inside, and Kevin did so, nearly stepping into a huge wad of gum on the floor. 

"Er…hey, Ed. Look, let’s just cut to the chase, ok?" Ed hopped up from a pile of sheets and comforters, wielding what looked like an empty cereal box.

"Freeze, intruder! No man shall pass the barricade!" Kevin huffed angrily.

"Look here, Lumpy. This is serious business." Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a piece of toast he had packed with him for such an occasion. “Here." Ed took the toast gratefully, sniffing it before shoving it entirely into his mouth. “Alright, now listen up.  I need you to tell me about Edd." 

"Double D?" A strange lucence came over Ed’s face, and for the briefest moment he looked incredibly sad, before the ridiculous grin spread over his features again. “What knowledge do you seek, wanderer?" Kevin told Ed what had happened the night before, and Ed—in his weird, cryptic way—elaborated on what Eddy had already hinted at: absent parents (thank God, at least he wasn’t getting beaten), a constant struggle for the best grades in school, strange compulsions. Still, Kevin felt that there was something missing to this story, and once Ed had returned to blasting zombies with his Fruity Puffs laser, he knew that was all the information he was going to get. He saw himself out, swiping one of Jimmy’s cookies while his back was turned and shoving it unceremoniously into his mouth.

By the time he made it out to the sidewalk once more, it was nearly lunchtime. The sun hung directly overhead, and he turned his cap to shield his eyes. Across the street, he could see Double D in his yard, pulling weeds out of the flower box with gloved hands. Kevin sighed heavily, kicking at the tarmac beneath his feet. He could go no further with this; everyone else in the cul-de-sac was probably as much in the dark about Edd as he was. If he was gonna get to the bottom of it, he’d have to investigate Edd himself. There was no way he could ask directly, though; he’d never let Kevin within ten feet of his house willingly, much less answer his questions. He’d have to find another way.

Returning home, he slouched down into his seat at the dinner table and munched on his sandwich, gazing drearily outside the window. Even from here, he could see Double D scampering back and forth, finishing his errands outside before disappearing back into his house. He sighed and pulled off his cap, running his hand through his hair. Why was he going through all this trouble for such a dork? Why did it really matter what his home life was like, or why he had made him cry? Two weeks from now, they’d both forget it and life would go on as usual. Kevin told himself this, but it was a lie: he’d gone too far, learned too much to let it go, and if he did, he’d just feel like even more of a jerk than he already did. He had to apologize, but first he had to know what he was apologizing for. 

Kevin left his sandwich behind, downing his glass of milk before rushing back out into the cul-de-sac, shoving his hands into his pockets. To his left, Eddy and Ed constructed some sort of cardboard monstrosity, notably without Double D there to supervise. Had Kevin really upset him that much? Another pang of guilt stung at his chest, and he turned sharply on his heel, marching toward Edd’s house like a soldier towards death. Out of the corner of his eye, the curtains in Edd’s window shifted. Setting his jaw, he made his way up the carefully-manicured lawn to the front step and held out his closed fist to knock. Before he could make contact with the whitewashed door, a timid voice called out.

"C-come in, Kevin…" Too surprised to question, Kevin obeyed. The compulsive neatness of his house was almost unbearable, and everything had a tiny label, naming each item in bold capitals, even things as simple as the coffee table or the lamp seated on the glossy surface. Normally, he would have laughed, but somehow the scene scared Kevin. What sort of life had Edd lived, that he felt the need to catalog each aspect of his life?  

"Double Dw—uh, Edd, where’d you go?" Hesitantly, Edd emerged from behind one of the heavy curtains covering the living room window. 

"H-hello, Kevin. To what do I owe this…distinct pleasure?" Edd’s cheeks were flushed a deep pink, and he had pulled the hem of his hat down even further than usual.

"Look, you don’t have to—I’m not gonna—" Kevin clenched his fists inside his pockets. “I just wanna talk, okay?" Edd moved closer, pulling at the sleeve of his shirt.

"If this is regarding last night’s outburst, I am deeply sorry. I shouldn’t have taken out my…my frustrations on you." Edd dug the heel of his foot into the carpet nervously, his bottom lip caught between the gap in his front teeth as he chewed it. Kevin remembered how it had quivered with suppressed anguish the night before.

"No, no, look, just…forget that, okay? I wanna know why you were so worked up." Edd turned away from Kevin, rubbing his arm with the palm of his hand.

"I…can’t fathom why you’d be interested in my personal affairs, Kevin." Kevin chuckled to himself, which must have surprised Edd, for he jerked back around, brows furrowed quizzically. “You find that amusing?"

"No, it’s just that I don’t know either. I have no idea why I’m here." Kevin laughed harder, adjusting his cap to give himself something to do with his hands. “I talked to your dork friends, and they said that—well, they said you’d been having some trouble." Edd’s eyes widened, and the hand on his arm tightened. “I don’t wanna make you do anything, or say anything, but…look, I understand it’s gotta get old talking to your parents through Post-it Notes, and being terrified of germs and grades and all that. It must be really, um, lonely. So…" Kevin sighed, feeling his own cheeks grow hot. “If you want to talk to somebody, just let me know and I’ll listen, okay?" Edd’s face screwed up into a pained expression, and he covered his face with his hands, sobbing profusely. “What!? What’d I say?" 

"K-kevin, I…" Edd sank to the carpet, sniffling and trying to wipe away the tears as they fell, to no avail. “I n-never thought you’d…you’d ever…" Kevin found himself kneeling beside Edd, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Look, relax, okay?" Edd buried his head in Kevin’s shoulder then and continued to cry, and Kevin’s face burned even hotter, his chest grew tighter. Sighing to himself, he placed his hand on the back of Edd’s head, his other resting on his thigh, and let him sob until he grew quiet. “You okay now?" Edd raised his head and sniffled once more, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket (of course he had a hankie) and wiped at his cheeks. 

"Y-yes, Kevin, I believe I have recovered." Realizing what he had just done, Edd floundered and covered his face again. “F-forgive me, Kevin, I…I got your shirt so wet…" Kevin grinned and swiped Edd’s hair out of his eyes, as if on instinct.

"Don’t sweat it, okay?" The two sat across from each other in silence for a while, each absorbing the other’s features with eyes that seemed starved of real sight. Finally, Kevin grumbled and rose to his feet. “Look, you heard what I said. Anytime you need to talk, just yell." He swaggered to the door, but just before he could leave, Edd murmured softly.

"I will never forget this as long as I live. Never." Kevin looked back, and watched as Edd put the handkerchief to his mouth and smiled, a few stray tears rolling down his flushed cheeks. Stifling the urge to speak, Kevin pretended he had seen nothing, but as he made his way back to his own house, he set his smile free, startling his next-door neighbor with the sheer brilliance of his happiness. He wasn’t even entirely sure what he was happy about, not yet, but if he had learned one thing from all this, it was that understanding came with time, and he couldn’t wait to get there.


End file.
